The present invention relates to data processing, and more particularly, to updating multiple software products.
Over its installed lifetime, a typical software application program will be updated numerous times. The updates can be unscheduled, for example, to apply bug fixes and/or to address security vulnerabilities, or scheduled, for example, to provide enhanced functionality in accordance with a development roadmap or to provide daily, monthly and/or annual updates to data employed by the software application program. Although a computer system typically has a large number of installed software application programs, the update(s) for each software application program are packaged separately.
Because not all computer systems on which software application programs are installed are updated concurrently, it is typical, even within a given enterprise, to have different computer systems at various states of update progress. For example, a first target computer system may have all updates installed for a particular software application program, a second target computer system may have all but the latest update, and a third target computer system may have all by the last two updates installed, etc. Further complicating the update process, the software application program can also be under constant development, meaning that, even for a given target computer system, the update required to bring the target computer system to a current state can be constantly changing.